Railroads:
none
Highways:
1,027 km total; at least 240 km sealed or all-weather roads
Ports:
Port-Vila, Luganville, Palikoulo, Santu
Merchant marine:
125 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 2,121,819 GRT/3,193,942 DWT; includes
23 cargo, 16 refrigerated cargo, 6 container, 11 vehicle carrier, 1
livestock carrier, 6 oil tanker, 2 chemical tanker, 3 liquefied gas, 54
bulk, 1 combination bulk, 1 passenger, 1 short-sea passenger; note - a flag
of convenience registry
Airports:
total:
31
usable:
31
with permanent-surface runways:
2
with runways over 3,659 m:
0
with runways 2,440-3,659 m:
1
with runways 1,220-2,439 m:
2
Telecommunications:
broadcast stations - 2 AM, no FM, no TV; 3,000 telephones; 1 Pacific Ocean
INTELSAT ground station
*Vanuatu, Defense Forces
Branches:
Vanuatu Police Force (VPF), paramilitary Vanuatu Mobile Force (VMF)
note:
no military forces
Manpower availability:
males age 15-49 NA; fit for military service NA
Defense expenditures:
exchange rate conversion - $NA, NA% of GDP
*Venezuela, Geography
Location:
Northern South America, bordering the Caribbean Sea between Colombia and
Guyana
Map references:
South America, Standard Time Zones of the World
Area:
total area:
912,050 km2
land area:
882,050 km2
comparative area:
slightly more than twice the size of California
Land boundaries:
total 4,993 km, Brazil 2,200 km, Colombia 2,050 km, Guyana 743 km
Coastline:
2,800 km
Maritime claims:
contiguous zone:
15 nm
continental shelf: 200 m depth or to depth of exploitation
exclusive economic zone:
200 nm
territorial sea:
12 nm
International disputes:
claims all of Guyana west of the Essequibo river; maritime boundary dispute
with Colombia in the Gulf of Venezuela
Climate:
tropical; hot, humid; more moderate in highlands
Terrain:
Andes mountains and Maracaibo lowlands in northwest; central plains
(llanos); Guyana highlands in southeast
Natural resources:
petroleum, natural gas, iron ore, gold, bauxite, other minerals, hydropower,
diamonds
Land use:
arable land:
3%
permanent crops:
1%
meadows and pastures:
20%
forest and woodland:
39%
other:
37%
Irrigated land:
2,640 km2 (1989 est.)
Environment:
subject to floods, rockslides, mudslides; periodic droughts; increasing
industrial pollution in Caracas and Maracaibo
Note:
on major sea and air routes linking North and South America
*Venezuela, People
Population:
20,117,687 (July 1993 est.)
Population growth rate:
2.22% (1993 est.)
Birth rate:
26.37 births/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Death rate:
4.69 deaths/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Net migration rate:
0.48 migrant(s)/1,000 population (1993 est.)
Infant mortality rate:
28.9 deaths/1,000 live births (1993 est.)
Life expectancy at birth:
total population:
72.69 years
male:
69.76 years female:
75.77 years (1993 est.)
Total fertility rate:
3.14 children born/woman (1993 est.)
Nationality:
noun:
Venezuelan(s)
adjective:
Venezuelan
Ethnic divisions:
mestizo 67%, white 21%, black 10%, Indian 2%
Religions:
nominally Roman Catholic 96%, Protestant 2%
Languages:
Spanish (official), Indian dialects spoken by about 200,000 Amerindians in
the remote interior
Literacy:
age 15 and over can read and write (1990)
total population:
88%
male:
87%
female:
90%
Labor force:
5.8 million
by occupation:
services 56%, industry 28%, agriculture 16% (1985)
*Venezuela, Government
Names:
conventional long form:
Republic of Venezuela
conventional short form:
Venezuela
local long form:
Republica de Venezuela
local short form:
Venezuela
Digraph:
VE
Type:
republic
Capital:
Caracas
Administrative divisions:
21 states (estados, singular - estado), 1 territory* ( territorio), 1, federal district**,
(distrito federal), and 1 federal dependence***, (dependencia federal); Amazonas*, Anzoategui,,
Apure, Aragua, Barinas,
Bolivar, Carabobo, Cojedes, Delta Amacuro, Dependencias Federales***,, Distrito Federal**,,
Falcon, Guarico, Lara, Merida, Miranda, Monagas, Nueva
Esparta, Portuguesa, Sucre, Tachira, Trujillo, Yaracuy, Zulia
note: the federal dependence consists of 11 federally controlled island groups
with a total of 72 individual islands
Independence:
5 July 1811 (from Spain)
Constitution:
23 January 1961
Legal system:
based on Napoleonic code; judicial review of legislative acts in Cassation
Court only; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction
National holiday:
Independence Day, 5 July (1811)
Political parties and leaders:
Social Christian Party (COPEI), Hilarion CARDOZO, president, and Jose
CURIEL, secretary general (acting); Democratic Action (AD), Humberto CELLI,
president, and Luis ALFARO Ucero, secretary general; Movement Toward
Socialism (MAS), Argelia LAYA, president, and Freddy MUNOZ, secretary
general; The Radical Cause ( La Causa R), Pablo Medina, secretary general
Other political or pressure groups:
FEDECAMARAS, a conservative business group; Venezuelan Confederation of
Workers (labor organization dominated by the Democratic Action); VECINOS
groups
Suffrage:
18 years of age; universal
Elections:
President:
last held 4 December 1988 (next to be held 5 December 1993); results -
Carlos Andres PEREZ (AD) 54.6%, Eduardo FERNANDEZ (COPEI) 41.7%, other 3.7%;
note - President Carlos Andres PEREZ suspended pending trial on corruption
charges
Senate:
last held 4 December 1988 (next to be held 5 December 1993); results -
percent of vote by party NA; seats - (49 total) AD 23, COPEI 22, other 4;
note - 3 former presidents (1 from AD, 2 from COPEI) hold lifetime senate
seats
*Venezuela, Government